Madison Board To Begin Review Of Budget

MADISON — Selectmen have proposed an overall town budget that would increase spending by 2.7 percent over the current fiscal year.

The board of finance will review details of the spending plan in workshops starting next week. The selectmen's proposed budget was released Thursday.

The budget proposal of $35,356,763 includes $423,532 more for town department spending and $506,689 more for town schools. The town portion of the proposed budget would be 3.95 percent higher than current spending, while school spending would go up by 2.13 percent.

Selectman Peter Pardo said Thursday the education budget was responsible and came in with an even lower proposed increase than the town side, and selectmen didn't find a need to reduce any areas of school spending.

The municipal budget recommended for next year is $11,132,318.

First Selectman Thomas Rylander, in written remarks to finance board members, said department heads deserve credit for bringing in reasonable budget requests. He said the budget will allow the town to maintain ``the expected quality of services.''

Among items in the budget are $63,000 for police cruisers, $16,000 for portable radios for emergency communications, $2,000 for underwater rescue equipment, $11,260 for a senior citizens' bus, $81,000 for building improvements, and $24,000 for a new deck for the town surf club. A number of other capital requests weren't funded to limit the budget increase.

Meetings of the finance board with department heads will begin Thursday and continue on Tuesdays and Thursdays through April 16. All the meetings are set for 7:30 p.m. at town campus. A town meeting on the budget is set for May 7 at 8 p.m. at Daniel Hand High School.

Also Thursday, selectmen approved giving the Madison Cultural Arts committee $2,000 in seed money to help it plan a Fourth of July concert that the group has had trouble funding in recent years. Members of the committee came before selectmen earlier this week to ask for help.